Winnipeg researcher charged with smuggling biological material into U.S.

A researcher at the National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg is facing charges in the United States after allegedly trying to smuggle unidentified
biological material across the Manitoba-North Dakota border.

U.S. authorities allege Konan Michel Yao had 22 vials of an unidentified substance in the trunk of his car when he tried to cross the border on May 5.
He is charged with smuggling merchandise.

U.S. customs officers allegedly found the vials wrapped in aluminum foil inside a glove and packaged in a plastic bag, along with electrical
wires.

Crazy stuff. The National Microbiology Lab in Winnipeg is a level 4 lab. It's where they play around with viruses like Ebola and H1N1/swine flu.
It's the lab where they decoded the genetic makeup of the swine flu a few days ago and swine flu samples are being sent to.

Wow! I assume this stuff came from Canada's National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg? If so... this is a very, very big deal. That lab is
world class and can handle and identify the most dangerous bugs known to man. The only other one in the western hemisphere is CDC in Atlanta. You
can bet that what he was carrying was at the very least... dangerous as hell. Normally that kind of material is transported under armed guard. This
guy is likely to never set foot outside a jail cell again. I'll bet my bottom dollar that his guy is not a Canadian national.

[edit on 13-5-2009 by Albertarocks]

Oops! Sorry Zombie, I missed that you'd identified the lab in question. That's not good news.

I doubt you'll get any info, you can try though. By the nature of their job they're basically sworn to secrecy and can get into a lot of trouble for
leaking any info. Trust me I've tried. My brother in law works at the Winnipeg Microbiology Laboratory and he's one of the scientists who works with
all the nasty viruses like Ebola and now Swine Flu. Last year he was sent to the Congo to contain an Ebola outbreak and I was asking him questions
about it and he told me straight up that they're not allowed to say much about anything concerning their job. A friend of mine also works at the lab
and she says the same thing. It's frustrating.

"We don't search people when they leave the building," Plummer said, during a teleconference from Ottawa. "I don't think that would be
appropriate."

"This individual had secret security clearance and we relied on his integrity."

Winnipeg Centre MP Pat Martin said people who live near a facility that contains infectious viruses and disease deserve a clear, transparent
explanation on how someone can walk out the door with vials of anything. Martin said the incident is cause for grave concern that no one escorted the
researcher out on his last day to check whether he took anything he wasn't supposed to.

What is odd about this story is on the news here in North Dakota, they say that he was a low level employee who was working on meaninless projects,
and just didn't want to start from scratch at his new job in the US. And from the other stories I am hearing, it sounds like they are telling us
different stories to keep us from being worried about this potential breach that nearly happened to us(north dakotans). It seems like they are
passivly dissmissing the sevarity of the event.

WINNIPEG — It's the federally appointed watchdog that's supposed to stand guard on behalf of the community which is home to the National
Microbiology lab.

But the local community liaison committee says a major security breach inside the facility containing the world's deadliest pathogens is nothing to
bark at.

Members of the committee met with scientific director Dr. Frank Plummer and a communications official from the lab on Friday to probe how a former
Winnipeg researcher was able to walk out of the lab with 22 vials of biological material in January. Some of the vials included genes from the deadly
Ebola virus.

You just said what I thought when I read your post about the theft- it's a Level 4 lab. CDC guidelines for lab personnel dealing with swabs from
suspected cases are urged to work at "enhanced Level3"- essentially Level4 if we're being honest with ourselves- it's on CDC.gov.

The flu has burned through the US and Canada- seems like we might have given it to Mexico, and not the other way around. Kids on spring break, the
Presidential entourage there the week it "broke", etc. Too many coincidences not to have a basis in reality- we just hae to prove it- and you're a
big step closer. Combine that with the Ft. Detrick thefts and picture gets even uglier.

Alberta- Winnipeg and CDC are the only labs who have "official" Level 4 labs- but USAMRIID, Detrick, ONL, Argonne and others do work that's Level 4
at enhanced Level 3- it's a tidy euphemism for Level 4 and allows people NOT to believe that there are deadly, uncurable diseases ALL over the
country.
As well, Porton Down in the UK, the Institut Pasteur, multiple labs in Russia, etc., all have Level 4 or enchance Level 3-

I left a government lab (had a clearance) HAPPILY some years ago due to what we were asked to work with. And as recently as last year, 10s of
billions of dollars have been appropriated to retrofit the American labs to be a new kind of Level 4- a sort of enhanced Level 4. The Gov. clearly
thinks it's necessary to have these bugs in as many labs as possible- advanced knowledge, bio-/chem war preparedness? Take your pick.

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